I frequented downtown Portland throughout my stay. On this particular day I took the streetcar downtown to catch a bus to get to the Hawthorne District. So, I took this opportunity to photograph some of the area while the weather was pretty nice.

I was surprised to see a bunch of seagulls flying around/searching for scraps of food. Below is the MAX passing by the pretty City Hall building.Portland Center for the Performing Arts shot during the day (left) and early evening (right):The Portlandia statue crouches above the entrance of the Portland Building. The statue was built by Raymond Kaskey and installed in 1985. It’s the second largest copper sculpture after the Statue of Liberty and is based on the design of Portland’s city seal.Lownsdale Square (top), Tri-met MAX stop (bottom left), water fountain (bottom right)

During my walk down 21st Ave, I came across two Portland Modern employees sitting outside for a smoke break. Their clothing and style caught my eye, and it turned out they were wearing clothes from the store and talking to each other in fake accents. They were really fun people and were nice enough to let me take a bunch of portraits of them. When I was done I gave them each my card and they introduced themselves as Scott and Mariel. I told them to e-mail me for copies and Mariel was very skeptical. She made me promise that I would actually reply to her e-mail, and I did! I e-mailed her photos right after she contacted me, so I hope she’s happy with them.

At one point Mariel offered me a drag of her cigarette, and when I declined, saying that I didn’t smoke, she said “I’ve never met a photographer who didn’t smoke,” which I found humorous. Ok, let’s get to the photos!

I took this quick shot of their legs (right) last minute and fell in love with it. Amazing how much expression you can get from legs and hands, isn’t it?They continued talking in their accents as I took photos, so I call this a “conversation diptych”Then I asked for a few of them looking at me. They were naturals! Mariel:Scott:

Our hotel was closest to Portland’s Nob Hill district in northwest Portland. I spent one early afternoon walking up and down 23rd and 21st avenue taking photos and browsing some shops.

Went to a cool coffee shop called Coffee Time on 21st avenue. Awesome rock & roll painted outdoor tables:I photographed the barista (left), and a man from San Francisco (right) sitting near a table lamp. We had a quick conversation about photography (since I had my camera around my neck) and then I asked him to pose, and he went right into deep stare mode. Silly self-portrait in the graffiti-filled Coffee Time bathroom.

Portland is divided north to south by Burnside St and the Willamette river divides east and west. I primarily stayed on the west side, since my hotel was in the northwest and the transportation via the streetcar and the MAX get you everywhere on the west side. You have to take buses to get over the river (except for the airport and IKEA where the MAX goes). I knew I had to make my way over to the Hawthorne District in the southeast where all the hipsters hangout (supposedly). Kind of like the Mission District in San Francisco. I also heard Hawthorne Blvd. in particular be called the Haight-Ashbury of Portland. In any case, I took a bus over and got off at 30th and Hawthorne and walked down to about 41st where there seemed to be less to walk to and see.

The vibe was instantly different. A little grungier (in a normal city kind of way) and reminded me of my hometown Santa Cruz’s downtown. Neat old buildings housed coffee shops, diners, boutiques. Unique privately owned stores promised one-of-a-kind finds, such as vintage clothing and vinyls. On this day I decided I would conquer my fear of photographing strangers. So, I made a promise to myself that I would ask at least one stranger if I could take their picture. It turns out I asked many more and none of them said no! However, I also carefully chose who to ask.

I initially wanted to photograph some hipsters, since Shannon’s mom Sarah was still unsure of what a hipster was. But, it was 38 degrees and I think the hipsters were hiding (indoors). Or, were not simply roaming the streets on a Sunday like I was. I got to photograph super nice and interesting people, don’t get me wrong, but I was expecting more over-the-top hipsters. In any case, I’ll let my pictures speak for themselves now.

My first subjects were these teenagers in ghillie suits hiding in bushes and scaring pedestrians. This violinist was super talented and taken aback when I asked if I could take his picture. He thanked me and said that most people don’t ask. Doesn’t he have a great smile? Another musician, who was very serious for someone who seemed to be a young teenager. But I’m bad with ages…This man had a booth for PGE (Portland General Electric, too similar to PG&E) and I stopped and talked to him for awhile about this new thing you could sign up for to save energy, etc. Then he graciously let me take his photograph. Love the hat and beard, and check out those eyes of his!I went into this herb shop to buy some loose leaf tea, and photographed the employee who had impressively long dreads. She was sweet and timid, but didn’t even flinch at the idea of having her photograph taken.Most of the dogs I saw wore little coats to keep them warm, but this little guy had a furry parka!I stopped at The Fresh Pot coffee shop inside of Powell’s Books on Hawthorne. When I asked this woman for her picture and gave her my spiel she just said “I used to do that.”

Caught a Powell’s Books employee on a smoke break. “Uh, sure you can take my picture…what should I do?” “Oh, you can just keep smoking.” But then he continued to look right at me, which was what I really wanted.It was a nerve-racking day full of firsts and I was constantly amazed at how kind everyone I ran into was. I gave all of my subjects my business card and told them to contact me if they wanted to see/have their photographs. About 4 of them got back to me, which I was pleased with.

When I visited Portland I stayed at the Inn at Northrup Station, which is a super fun and colorful hotel filled with work from local artists. I’ll put some photos of the hotel on here eventually. The hotel is on Northrup and NW 20th right near a streetcar stop and within walking distance to a variety of cafes, shops, restaurants, and bars. So, I was closest to the Northwest/Pearl District and spent a lot of time walking through it.

Here’s a vintage-y edit of a common street scene of an oncoming streetcar:

My third and final stop for Zwickelmania was Rogue Ales Distillery. They gave a short tour of the small distillery where they make their rum, and then had one beer available for tasting along with a tasting of their Hazelnut Spice Rum for $1 (which I would highly recommend if you like rum).

My second stop for Zwickelmania was the Crystal Ballroom, one of McMenamins many venues. The Crystal Ballroom holds concerts and dance lessons, etc, but the second story includes a brewery room. This is where McMenamins beer tasting took place and is seen below.

And lastly, here’s me! An Irish couple who drove to Portland for the weekend from Vancouver, Canada asked me to take their photo, so then I asked for the man to take mine.

On my second full day in Portland I took part in Zwickelmania, which is an annual event where breweries open their doors to the public from 11am-4pm for tours and tastings. I didn’t really know about it until that morning, so I just looked up which participating breweries were within walking distance. So, I took a tour of a couple breweries in the Pearl/NW and got to taste some of the different beers. Today I’m just going to highlight Bridgeport Brewing, which ended up being my favorite.

Tour of the brewery:

Lots of hops!I asked to take the bartender’s picture while he poured my tasting and then I continued taking pictures as he talked to someone next to me about how big he must look holding my little tasting glass.